Caramel Corn

Made this as part of a caramel-cheddar popcorn mix.

We made this recipe occasionally as a special amenity for guests during summers at the hotel, and I could never stop eating the scraps. It tastes better than storebought caramel popcorn in a bag. It just does.

It was a fun trip down memory lane to figure out the recipe from a pic I snapped of my coworker’s notebook because it happened to be written in Spanish. I had to ask her what “al sacar burbujas agregar mantequilla” means and we never really figured it out, but as far as I could remember about 3-4 years back it’s a toffee-like process.

So I just went with the toffee method and it turned out great.

Here’s the recipe for prosperity because I know I’ll be going through this again in the near future.

Caramel Popcorn

1. Pop about 1/4 c popcorn kernels in oil:

   1. Heat a thin layer of neutral oil in a 6-qt heavy bottomed pot, until oil is shimmery and hot.

   2. Add popcorn kernels, and close the lid.

   3. When popping sounds start happening, occasionally shake the pot gently to redistribute un-popped kernels.

   4. Turn off the heat when most of the kernels have popped, or when you go about 3 seconds without hearing popping sounds.

   5. Transfer to a big bowl, one that has a lot of extra room for mixing.

2. Add to a 1.5-2qt saucepan:

   • 200g water

   • 170g sugar

   • 43g corn syrup

   • 72g unsalted butter

   • pinch salt, optional

3. Brush down any sugar clinging to the sides of the pot, and cook on medium heat without stirring.

4. In the mean time, prepare a landing pad (half sheet lined with a silpat) and preheat the oven to 300F.

5. Cook until mixture starts to darken. Gently swirl the pot every 30 seconds or so to distribute the heat evenly.

6. When at the desired caramel color, pour toffee into popcorn and mix well.

7. Spread toffee-coated popcorn onto the prepared landing pad.

8. Bake in the oven to remelt the toffee, about 3-4 minutes. Then stir to coat the popcorn more evenly. *Can repeat this step as much or as little as necessary.

9. Cool in a single layer and break up into individual pieces, or cool in clumps and serve them in big chunks.

Notes

• The cheddar half was just storebought cheddar popcorn seasoning. I could have bought the bagged cheddar popcorn from the chips aisle, but that always has a spongy texture I don’t love compared to freshly popped popcorn.

• Since the cheddar half was quite salty, I didn’t add much salt to the caramel half. But I would salt more if eaten by itself.

• You could use the recipe without the popcorn to make toffee too! Spread thinly onto a silpat, sprinkle with nuts if desired, and break into chunks. There is a lot of starting liquid in this recipe and not as much butter, so it’s more of a brittle I guess. But I think that means the emulsion is less likely to break in the middle of cooking.